Landscape Transformation
9 years $120,000
in county open space waiver fees. $150,000
in State bond funds. $15,000
in private grants and donations. Countless
staff, board and volunteer hours.
These numbers are impressive, but they don’t really tell the story of Powhatan Park. The story lies in the actions of people. People who live in the Powhatan Farms Community. People who believed in a vision of something that might be …
Transformative!
In 2007, the Powhatan Farms Improvement Association wrote to NeighborSpace seeking “a park with … flowers, and an area that would allow our community to have cookouts and possibly hold our monthly community meetings during the good weather months.” By 2008, NeighborSpace had purchased the L-shaped, 1.5-acre piece of land that served as the de facto “back porch” of Powhatan Farms, a community of duplex homes in Lochearn that was developed in the late 1950s.
Then came the hard part - how to create the multi-purpose space that the community wanted? NeighborSpace had not previously been in the business of both protecting and improving land. But it was clear that, short of a substantial retrofit, this parcel would be of no real use to the community.
To the rescue came students from Morgan State’s Landscape Architecture Program. They met with community members. With the help of their instructor & NeighborSpace board member Jack Leonard, they then created a design that reconciled the site’s challenges, i.e., uneven topography & lots of stormwater runoff, with the community’s desires.
Jack Murphy, then president of the NeighborSpace Board, led the fundraising effort, convincing County Executive Kamenetz to pursue State bond funding in 2012. The County Executive delivered, securing $150,000. The County Delegation also deserves credit for this success, especially Delegate Adrienne Jones.
Marsha McLaughlin and John Alexander, co-chairs of the NeighborSpace Stewardship Committee, led numerous cleanups of the property. Marsha, the recently retired Director of Planning for Howard County, used her many years of planning experience to get the project bid in the summer of 2016. That fall, Natural Concerns and Daft McCune Walker were hired to implement the Morgan students’ design. And this fall, thanks to so many of YOU who donated your time and your money, the project is nearly done.
Live Music and Ribbon Cutting at Graystone 7/28/26 | Will Kaselow, Community Conservation Manager
7/28/26 | Will Kaselow, Community Conservation Manager Thank you to everyone who came out to NeighborSpace’s final concert of the summer! After the original date was cancelled due to wildfire-related air pollution, we were able to quickly reschedule and ended up lucking into one of the most beautiful nights of the summer so far. We […]
7/29/2026 | Phyllis Joris, Executive Director Like many nonprofits, NeighborSpace operates on a fiscal year that runs July through June. This month, NeighborSpace staff and board members took stock of progress made in the past year and drafted a work plan for the coming year. More details will be provided in NeighborSpace’s Annual Report, which […]
Thanks to donations from generous supporters like you, NeighborSpace was able to hire three interns this summer. We want to help young conservationists gain fieldwork and behind-the-scenes experience, and staff is grateful for the extra hands and minds! We introduced you to our stewardship interns last month.Now read on to meet our communications intern, Mykiah. […]
Barbara Waters While I grew up in Massachusetts and then spent 6 years in Northern Maine, I have now lived in Maryland for nearly 32 years. I had been involved in many things in the community, but that involvement really ramped up once the pandemic started. To combat isolation, I started walking daily, and have […]
Thanks to donations from generous supporters like you, NeighborSpace was able to hire three interns this summer. We want to help young conservationists gain fieldwork and behind-the-scenes experience, and staff is grateful for the extra hands and minds! Read on to meet our two stewardship interns, Ashley and Katie. Hi! I am Ashley Metzbower. I […]
6/29/26 | Will Kaselow, Community Conservation Manager This month we welcomed the summer with song, hosting live music events at two of our sites! First, Patrick Alban and his Buena Vista Social Club joined us at Ridgely Manor Park in Towson on one of the hottest nights of the year so far. Despite the heat, […]
6/29/26 | Conor Harrington, Land Steward This spring, NeighborSpace installed its first microforest/Miyawaki plantings at Tollgate Wyndham Preserve in Owings Mills. With the help of some very dedicated volunteer groups from BGE and Stanley Black & Decker, we planted about 150 trees and shrubs in three contained locations of the preserve. The area covered by […]
6/29/2026 | Phyllis Joris, Executive Director NeighborSpace recently added a new site to its portfolio! With the addition of Stonegate, a beautiful 16-acre property in Catonsville, NeighborSpace now protects 116 acres across 22 sites for current and future residents of urban Baltimore County. This property is co-held with Maryland Environmental Trust (MET), the state’s land […]
This month we would like to thank Christie Bianco for her time and dedication as a NeighborSpace volunteer! Christie has lived in the Dunmore community for 21 years and first connected with Levickas Woods through her children, who would play in the woods and catch crayfish in the stream. She considers the woods to be […]
